Nothing Ear Open Review: A Unique Listening Experience

Discover Nothing Ear (Open) review: unique design, great sound, advanced EQ, but lacking bass and no wireless charging.

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$149 Nothing Ear Open earbuds are a new option in the market. They have a unique design, good sound, and decent battery life, plus they let you hear your surroundings thanks to “open” style. They cost half price of $299 Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, making them a great choice for Android users who want stylish and good-sounding earphones. iPhone users, however, might prefer $179 AirPods 4, which offer an open design with noise cancellation.

Nothing Ear Open Specification

Specification	Details
🎧Type	🎧 Open-style earbuds
📶Wireless	📶 True Wireless
🔗Connection Type	🔗 Bluetooth
💦Water/Sweat-Resistant	💦 Yes
🎧Active Noise Cancellation	🚫 No

Nothing Ear Open Design

Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds have a distinctive design with transparent parts, marked with a white dot on left earbud and a red dot on right. Over-the-ear clasp on earbuds holds them firmly in place. You can hear your surroundings while listening to music thanks to tiny speaker that sits just outside your ear canal rather than inside. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds & AirPods 4 share similar design.

Earbuds are rated IP54, meaning they can handle light rain and sweat, but they shouldn’t be submerged in water. Charging case also has an IP54 rating, making it resistant to water and sweat.

You control earbuds with pinch gestures. A single pinch plays or pauses music and answers or ends calls. A double pinch skips a track or declines a call, while a triple pinch goes back a track. Pinch and hold right earbud to turn volume up and left earbud to turn it down. You can customize these controls using app and even add a gesture to activate your voice assistant.

Earbuds have 14.2mm dynamic driver, and they connect via Bluetooth 5.3. They support basic AAC and SBC codecs, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair and can connect to two devices at once.

Charging case is larger than other earbud cases due to ear hook design. It’s flat but wide, measuring 0.75 by 4.96 by 1.73 inches, and is slim enough to fit in your pocket.

Earbuds offer up to 8 hours of listening time, with an extra 22 hours in charging case. Battery life depends on your listening volume. Case charges with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable, but it doesn’t support wireless charging.

Nothing Ear (Open) App: Advanced EQ for Personalized Sound

Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds work with NothingX app, available for both Android and iOS devices. App is well-designed and easy to navigate. When earbuds are connected, main screen shows battery life and includes buttons to access equalizer (EQ) settings and controls. You can tap Settings button in top-right corner to find advanced features like Bluetooth multipoint, which allows earbuds to connect to two devices at once and “Find My Earbuds” feature.

App also connects to ChatGPT, allowing you to control assistant with your voice, which adds extra convenience for users who want to access information or perform tasks hands-free.

App offers two EQ options: a simple one and an advanced one. Simple EQ includes a few presets and allows you to adjust bass, mids, and treble to your liking. For most users this simple EQ will be sufficient and easy to use.

However, advanced EQ is where app really shines. It includes eight adjustable frequency bands, and what sets it apart from other EQs is that it lets you adjust frequency of each band along with “Q” of that band. “Q” controls how wide or narrow boost or cut is for each frequency. While this level of control might be overwhelming for some, advanced users will appreciate flexibility it offers to fine-tune sound exactly how they want it.

Nothing Ear (Open) Sound: Great Overall, But Bass Could Be Better

Open-ear design of Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds means they can’t deliver same deep bass as in-ear models. However, they still sound very good and are among best-sounding open earbuds available.

Bass is a challenge for open-ear designs, but large drivers in these earbuds help. For example, in The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” bass isn’t as deep as in-ear models but still has some impact. Kick drum and bass synth are noticeable and add to mix, even though they don’t go as deep as they could. Similarly, in Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” kick drum has some depth and his vocals sound rich, with a natural tone to guitar.

That said, tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty.” show earbuds’ bass limitations. The sub-bass tones are mostly absent which can detract from experience especially for bass-heavy tracks.

Despite bass limitations, mids and highs are well-balanced. Instruments like strings and brass on orchestral tracks, such as John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound bright and detailed. However, complex tracks can sometimes feel a little cluttered, with less impressive instrument separation.

Microphone performs well for calls. When tested on an iPhone, it picked up voices clearly without much background noise, making it reliable for communication.

While bass may not match in-ear models, Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds offer excellent sound for an open-ear design and perform well for casual listening and calls.

Pros and Cons of Nothing Ear (Open)

🟢Pros	🔴Cons
🎶 Good audio quality for open earbuds	🔊 Lacking bass response
🎚️ Advanced EQ features	🚫 No wireless charging
💎 Unique transparent design	🔴
🔋 Solid battery life	🔴

Conclusion

Open earphones cater to a specific audience. Most people may prefer deeper, richer sound of in-ear earbuds. However, if you want to stay aware of your surroundings—like airport announcements or other important sounds—open designs are a great choice. They often outperform transparency modes on noise-canceling earbuds.

Open earbuds target a specific audience. Many people may prefer the deeper, fuller sound of in-ear earbuds. However, if you want to be aware of your surroundings such as airport announcements or other vital sounds, open designs are an excellent alternative. They frequently outperform transparency modes on noise-cancelling headphones.